I’ve always enjoyed simulation games such as SimCity, but it’s been a while since there was a new release in the series. SimCity 4 is 7 years old now, and even the poorly received Societies is a little over 2. So, when my roommate told me about a new SimCity-styled game called Cities XL, I decided to try it out.

Cities XL is developed and published by a French company called Monte Cristo. The game is currently available through Steam as well as the developer’s website. The “Solo” version of the game is $39.99, with the “Online” version available for $9.99/mo. Alternatively, a “Premium” version that includes the single player as well as 1 month of online multiplayer is $44.99. Currently, I’ve only played the single player version.

First impressions are not one of Cities XL’s strong points. My first annoyance came before the game even started, as it forces you to sign into your Cities XL online account every time, even if you just want to start the Solo game, and there’s no way to save your login, so you’re forced to type it each and every time. The menus are a little clunky and lack the kind of polish and attention to detail that a lot of PC games have nowadays. The game also has a steeper learning curve than I had originally expected, and I found myself having to play through most of the tutorials in order to have a good idea how to go about building my first city, which I named “Miranda,” seeing as it’s more than likely going to be a complete disaster.

Once you get to the game itself, though, the experience improves dramatically. The amount of detail you’re able to put into your cities it much higher than city sims I’ve played in the past. For starters, Cities XL includes the ability to create a curved road, which right away breaks you free from the traditional “Grid” that you’ve been locked into in the past, which gives your cities a much more organic feel. There’s also a greater variety of zones for you to choose from. While it uses the same three types of zones SimCity has used in the past, there’s a greater number of options within those zones:

• In housing, you have multiple tiers rather than just densities, including smaller homes for your “unskilled workers,” larger suburbs for your middle class residents, and even larger, more luxurious homes for your executives and other “Elites.”
• When it comes to industry, you have an option of several types of farm area (such as livestock, fruit, vegetable, and grain, among others) as well as manufacturing, “heavy” industry, office space, and “high tech” industry.
• Your options for commercial properties includes a number of different types of shopping and leisure activities in order to keep your citizens happy.

In addition, when you’re building these zones, you have more options than the traditional “grid” method. you can build your zones against a curved road, place plots individually and even mark out an area free-form.

The game does a decent job of letting you know what problems there are and what is in demand or needed. Keeping the city in balance is a tricky process though, and requires paying attention to the alerts at the top of the screen.

Overall, I’ve only played the game for a couple of hours. The download and install alone took up a better part of a day, with the game needing to download updates even though it was downloaded from Steam. I may put up a more detailed review later, but in the meantime, you should be able to check the game out by signing up for an account on the game’s website, and choosing “free trial” when it asks for your game CD key.